In a world where the major threat to the safety and security of a nation no longer comes from the threat of nuclear warfare among super powers, but from the threat of localized terrorist activity, former methods and systems for intelligence gathering have become insufficient. Often the individuals in the best position to report potential terrorist activity are individual civilians, who might spot suspicious activity during their daily routine or may be in the best position to determine what is suspicious activity for a given location and situation.
However, current communication infrastructures for reporting terrorist activity or other potentially harmful activities are limited. In most locations, an individual citizen that wants to report potential terrorism or criminal behavior must call 911 and talk to a police 911 dispatcher. The police 911 dispatcher receiving such a call typically performs no screening on the call to determine the credibility of the caller. Additionally, 911 systems can not query databases of previously gathered intelligence to assist in evaluating the threat reported by the caller.
To evaluate threats in a military theater, Time Critical Targeting (TCT) can be used. The basic elements of TCT include finding a target, fixing the target at a location, tracking the target, targeting the target and then engaging the target. In a military theater of operation, these steps can be performed by military personnel. What is needed is a system and method for a grass roots intelligence program to allow civilians to be responsible for at least some of these steps and to allow law enforcement personnel, such as local police, the FBI, Homeland Security or the like, to perform other steps (such as targeting the target and engaging the target).